Conflict and Cooperation in the Global Commons

A Comprehensive Approach for International Security

Scott Jasper, Editor

Publication Year: 2012

More than ever, international security and economic prosperity depend upon safe access to the shared domains that make up the global commons: maritime, air, space, and cyberspace. Together these domains serve as essential conduits through which international commerce, communication, and governance prosper. However, the global commons are congested, contested, and competitive. In the January 2012 defense strategic guidance, the United States confirmed its commitment “to continue to lead global efforts with capable allies and partners to assure access to and use of the global commons, both by strengthening international norms of responsible behavior and by maintaining relevant and interoperable military capabilities.”

In the face of persistent threats, some hybrid in nature, and their consequences, Conflict and Cooperation in the Global Commons provides a forum where contributors identify ways to strengthen and maintain responsible use of the global commons. The result is a comprehensive approach that will enhance, align, and unify commercial industry, civil agency, and military perspectives and actions.

Cover

Contents

List of Illustrations

Foreword: Contested Superiority in the Commons

The United States has a long- standing interest in protecting access to the
global commons. Since the founding of the Republic, the US military has
safeguarded American lives and trade abroad. Military power not only has provided
security and prosperity for the nation, it also has protected international...

Acknowledgments

This volume was inspired by the escalating impact of widespread threats
to the global commons. In exchanges with US and international students at
the Naval Postgraduate School, I have come to realize that they and their
compatriots will be committed in harm’s way at some point in the defense of our...

Abbreviations

Introduction: A Comprehensive Approach

National security and economic prosperity depend on safeguarding the global
commons, which are the “domains or areas that no one state controls but on
which all rely.” The global commons comprise four domains: maritime, air, space,
and cyber. The maritime and air domains are international oceans and skies that...

Part I: SECURITY DYNAMICS

1. Problems in Collective Action

Soft and hard power are intrinsically tied to the measured use of global public
goods that exist in the global commons. Diplomatic power relies heavily on
unfettered access to airspace through which national interests are promoted by
governments, to oceans in which the balance of power is enforced in accordance...

2. The Character of Conflict

The nature of conflict is enduring. It can be violent, often uncontrollable, and
unpredictable. Moreover, it has evolved over the centuries because of various
factors. Adversaries, be they state or nonstate actors, meet new challenges by
adopting the weaponry and tactics at hand. Lessons are learned after each...

3. Strategies of Deterrence

In early 2011, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates spoke to cadets at the US
Military Academy and the US Air Force Academy as part of a farewell tour
during which he sought to engage a future generation of officers on the requirements
of a twenty-first-century military. He warned them not to view the world...

Part II: CONFLICT METHODS

4. The Maritime Commons and Military Power

Oceans and the airspace above them were the first internationally recognized
global commons and the model for analyzing the emerging space and cyberspace
domains. The role of the commons in developing and facilitating international
trade is indisputable. Mitigating security threats to the maritime...

5. Coercive Aerospace Campaigns

Aerospace power is the key to gaining strategic advantages in any theater by
the application of military force via platforms either operating in or passing
through air and space. Control of the skies is a critical enabler in dominating the
earth’s surface and a major determinant of victory. Air superiority provides...

6. Aggression in Cyberspace

Computer intrusions and attacks have become methods for aggression. The
frequency of incidents coupled with their implications has driven the Pentagon
to formally recognize cyberspace as a domain for military activities for the
purposes of organizing, training, equipping, and when directed, operating...

Part III: COOPERATIVE OPPORTUNITIES

7. Building Collaborative Capacity for Maritime Security

The introduction to this book argues that maintaining access, safety, and security
in the global commons requires cooperation by diverse organizations. It
proposes a comprehensive approach to identify interests and establish policies,
incentives, and mechanisms for cooperative behavior. A similar...

8. Assuring Joint Operational Access

The doctrine of joint operational access— getting forward, staying forward,
and operating along secured lines of communication— is as expensive as it
is critical. Since World War II joint operational access has generated profound
strategic, operational, and tactical advantages for the United States and...

9. Shaping the Outer Space and Cyberspace Environments

The international security environment is uncertain, dynamic, complex, and
dangerous. This is due in part to the emergence of outer space and cyberspace
as new arenas of competition and conflict. In the twenty-first century the
United States and its allies must be able to deter and, if necessary, to fight and...

Part IV: INTERFACE MECHANISMS

10. Maritime Security Consortiums

The ocean covers 71 percent of the earth’s surface. The ability to traverse,
exploit, and share this vast expanse is crucial to the security and prosperity
of every nation around the world. The maritime domain is essential to global
mobility and trade and is an abundant source of vital resources, from...

11. Cyber Security Social Contract

The strategic importance of cyberspace networks and the absence of the preparedness
measures to deal with cyber threats against them are recognized
by both civil and military constituencies. The unfettered use of the other
domains— air, sea, and space— largely depends on cyber systems for their...

Part V: BEHAVIORAL NORMS

12. Setting Norms for Activities in Space

Space is a very demanding domain in which to operate, even when nations
choose not to impose barriers to each other’s success. Space can easily become
a chaotic domain as more countries, national enterprises, international
consortiums, and nongovernmental entities with contesting agendas seek...

13. Establishing Rules for Cyber Security

The comparison of cyberspace to the high seas, civil aviation, and viral diseases
has generated a debate on the applicability of their regulation to the
cyber domain. A group of nations led by Russia and China is calling for a new
regulatory approach to the cyber domain. This debate has advanced...

Conclusion: Avoiding Conflict and Facilitating Cooperation

This volume brings together both security precedents and best practices to
guide strategies and partnerships for responsible and sustainable use of the
global commons. Despite the imperative to respond to nefarious threats to security
and prosperity, considerable debate persists regarding the most effective...

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